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Disabling User List in GDM Login Screen – Ubuntu 9.10 / Linux Mint 8

I’ve been playing around with both Ubuntu 9.10 and Linux Mint 8 (just released and based on Ubuntu 9.10). One of the differences that’s noticed right away is the change in the GDM login screen. By default, it lists the users to choose from, then enter the password. This may be OK for some, i.e. perhaps a home system, but what if you wanted to not use the list of users. If you wanted to require users to type in their username to make it more secure, you can no longer just adjust this setting within the login screen settings. The login screen settings now contain just a couple of options around allowing autologin. It would be nice to have the other setting back, but here is a method that someone can use now:

Logout so you are at the login screen.

Ctrl-Alt-F1 to enter the CLI.

Login to CLI using the normal credentials.

Type: export DISPLAY=:0.0

Type: sudo -u gdm gconf-editor

Alt-F7 to return to the GUI. Gconf-editor should be visible.

Drill down to apps –> gdm –> simple-greeter.

Check box for disable_user_list. Close gconf-editor.

Reboot, GDM should now show a button to login, and prompt for both username then password.